Skins
by catsthatbarkk
Summary: Six teenagers. Six POVs. Six Lives, all tangled up with one another. This is the story of Hikari, Takeru, Sora, Yamato, Taichi and Mimi as they try to get through high school alive without breaking anything - or anyone - in the process. Inspired by Skins (UK). Rating is subject to change. Takari, Sorato, Michi.
1. 1: Mimi

It's always amazed me how dramatically feelings could change and grow.

I would have never even thought to picture myself in this condition because of this particular person. Infatuated. Head over heels. Staring at him as he walked down the corridor with large, puppy eyes and wondering when our next conversation would take place and how he would flirt with me; how he would sweep me off my feet once again. I never thought he would be the one to make me lose my composure. Never would I have guessed that he would be the one to make me, Mimi Tachikawa, single-handedly break down the walls I had built to prevent emotional attachment to anyone outside of them.

It all happened so quickly. He was just my friend. My goofy, arrogant, reckless, idiotic friend whom I always placed, in my mind, as my brother and nothing more.

But then he kissed me.

And I felt it.

Purpose. The purpose one feels when they are finally tangled up with the right person to be tangled up with. The sense of this is exactly what I should have been doing this entire time. No regret. No second guesses. Just our lips, doing their dance. His hands, exploring the curves of my body he's never dared to touch before. His eyes, memorizing my every move and every little freckle on my skin. And his words. The words that escape his mouth naturally, as if they had been waiting all along on the sidelines of every conversation we've ever had for a chance to finally be released. The words that nourish me in a way I never knew possible, the words that could convince me to do anything.

I never expected to fall in love with him.

But alas, here I am. Completely, utterly, crazy in love with Taichi Yagami.

"Earth to Mimi?" Sora said, waving her hand infront of my face. "Come on, answer the question!"

"Huh?" I blinked twice, looking at my red-headed best friend. Had I been lost in thought again? No. I shifted my gaze over to the back of the classroom where I had been staring while Sora was telling me about something that had happened to her yesterday. Tall and dark, he stood amongst his friends. With a side smirk, he stepped backwards to his desk and pulled himself upwards to sit on it's surface before saying something that caused the group around him to burst out in laughter. His every move seemed so natural and uncalculated, I had always been envious of his easy demeanor.

"Sorry, Sor. I kind of spaced out there. What were you saying?" I asked, deciding it wise to focus my attention on my best friend rather than end up distracted for the rest of the day by the one thing my mind actually wanted to think of.

She sighed and pursed her lips. "You've been so easily distracted lately. Don't think I haven't noticed. What's going on? Are you having trouble with your mom again?"

I shook my head. It was true - ever since what happened had happened, my mother and I's frequent fights have been put to rest as I found myself not as easily pissed off by every little thing as I had been before. "No. I was just thinking of how badly I'm going to screw up on my biology re-test."

"Don't worry. We studied last night, remember?" We did. Not that I had focused on anything she had attempted to explain to me. Sora gave me a reassuring smile. "You'll do great, I promise. Now, answer the question."

"What question?"

She groaned and rolled her eyes. I really had been spaced out when she was telling me what had happened to her and asking for my advice. "About Matt. Last night at his concert, he was getting a little too flirty with fucking June when she went up to him after the show. I confronted him and we had a big fight. He said I had to be more confident and trust him more and I said that I was perfectly confident and that he just had to control himself more. Then I stormed out and went home and he's been texting me apologies ever since. Should I just let up and forgive him or should I hold on to this a while longer?"

Sora and Matt had a kind of relationship where they would be absolutely and enviously in love one day and the next, they'd be yelling at each other in the middle of class. "You let too much get to you. So what? He was flirting with a girl that's had a crush on him since god knows how long. You know that Matt doesn't like to be rude to her. Give him a break. Flirting with June means nothing and it certainly shouldn't be the catalyst for a fight. Don't give her that satisfaction, you know word spreads through this school like the fucking plague."

Sora sighed and grabbed a strand of her straight, short hair and began to curl it around her finger, as she always did when she was nervous. "I know. You're right. If I keep picking fights left and right with him he's going to get really sick of me very soon."

"Matt would never get sick of you. Just try to be a little more lenient."

She laughed and grabbed my shoulder. "Well, that's a big word. What? Did you accidentally study Vocabulary rather than Bio?"

"Fuck off" I laughed, turning in my seat and rearranging my text books just in time for , our world history teacher, to walk into class.

"Good morning, class!" He exclaimed, ever the cheery educator. "Great, great. I can see that you're all here. No need to take attendance. Let's start right away with our oral pop quiz!"

"I'm so fucking pissed right now!" Hikari exclaimed, slamming her tray on our lunch table. Hikari, Sora and I shared the same lunch period which was miraculous, considering that Hikari was a junior while Sora and I were seniors. For three years we've sat at the same lunch table in the center of the cafeteria - a strategic spot for our many gossip sessions.

"Really, Hika? Just an apple and some french fries? What gives?" I asked, taking note of how little she had on her tray. "Also, since when did you become such a trouty mouth? Have we just begun to badly influence you?"

"Sorry. I'm just really angry." She huffed, crossing her arms and leaning back on the bench.

"What happened?"

"She's grounded", Sora informed me through a mouthful of cheese burger. "She's been sulking all morning, I'm surprised you didn't notice."

My face reddened. I had actually been eyeing the cafeteria like a fox watching for it's prey. "Um, yeah. Sorry, Hika. I've been distracted. Why are you grounded?"

"It's stupid. Takeru and I were, um, messing around in my room." She whispered the last bit. Hikari had always been very touch and go when it came to her practically non existent sex life with her boyfriend, Takeru. "We weren't even on the bed, we were on my couch! But of course, my mom deliberately storms in and finds us in what she referred to as a compromising situation and proceeds to kick out Takeru, give me a two hour long lecture about how I needed to be more lady like and ground me for a whole week."

"Damn, it! That means you can't come to Kenji's party with me!"

She shook her head, a disappointed frown present on her face. "Nope. I can't go anywhere. Sorry."

Sora threw the last bit of her cheese burger into her mouth and turned to me. "Hey, why don't you go with Tai? He mentioned that he would be there."

My body froze at the mention of his name, of course. My eyes drifted with a mind of their own, still searching for him amongst the students seated in the cafeteria. Where was he? I turned back towards Sora and tried to give her a smooth, non suspicious answer. "Oh, good idea. I'll text him. We haven't hung out in a while."

She smiled, proud of herself. "I'm going to go get a milkshake", she exclaimed, getting up and marching towards the counter.

Hikari and I stared at Sora as she walked. She was in the best shape of her life. She'd grown a few inches taller than me and her body was lean and athletic without taking away from her curves, curtsy of all the Tennis she had been recently playing.

"She eats like a fiend but she never gains a pound..." Sighed Hikari before turning back to her tray and taking a small bite out of her red, shiny apple.

"Do you need a ride?" Sora asked, shaking the keys to her red Toyota as we walked out of school at the end of the day.

"No, I could use a good walk." I quickly said, shooing her off.

"Alright. I might show up at your house tonight, kay?"

"Kay. Bye babe!" I said, playfully pushing her towards her car.

I stalled around the school building, pretending to dig something from the deep ends of my large purse as I waited to see Sora drive away from campus. When she was gone, I trekked across the parking lot over towards the soccer field at the far right of the school building. Practice should have just begun, I was only a few minutes later than my usual timing.

I carefully climbed the bleachers, careful not to humiliate myself and trip in my heeled boots. When I reached the very top, I pulled out a napkin from my bag and wiped off the seat, not wanting to dirty my brand new navy leggings. I turned and sat, crossing my legs and placing my hands on my knees before taking a proper look down at the field.

There he was. Doing laps around the field with his teammates, running in the front as he was the team captain, shouting at those behind him to hurry up. After two more reps, they came to a halt and the coach ordered them to do pushups center field. Then, he looked up, resting his eyes on the spot he knew I sat in everyday to watch him train. He smiled and ran a hand through his sweaty, big hair before sending me a playful wink and flashing those god-gifted dimples in a smirk.

There my heart went, in all it's cliche glory, skipping a beat. I let out a silent giggle and winked back before shooing him towards the center of the field to do his pushups. My favorite set to watch, lucky me.

Practice was over in about a half an hour and I sat there in my seat, waiting for him to finish his shower and come get me, as per our daily routine. I pulled out my phone as I waited and scrolled through instagram. I really wanted to post a selfie we had taken last night, but due to our agreement that would have to wait.

Tai and I were walking on eggshells, we both knew that. We were so different, every single part of each of our personalities contrasted with the other's and yet, we fit perfectly together, complementing each other in a way I've never seen before. Yet, we were so easily breakable. One wrong move could cause us to explode and begin to contrast negatively rather than positively.

The first night we spent together, we stayed up to the wee hours of the morning just talking. Me in his button up shirt, crossed legged on his bed with a sheet wrapped around me. Him, leaning his back against his bed frame resting his arm overhead, covered by his blanket and trying hard not to laugh too loud and wake his parents in the next room - they had no idea he had snuck in so late, nevertheless with a girl.

When the sun was coming up, we layed on his bed and watched it as we came to a decision. We would have to keep us, whatever we were at the time, a secret. We didn't want anyone to spoil it with stares, gossip and interference. I promised not to tell Sora, he promised not to tell Matt, no matter how hard that would be for the both of us. At least for a while, we agreed. It wouldn't be forever. We had been friends since we were a pair of ten year olds, we knew each other as friends but we wanted to get to know each other on the new level that we had found ourselves on. Until we felt completely comfortable in our new relationship, we would only discuss it amongst ourselves. I felt okay with that, so far.

"Hey there, little lady." I looked up to find him standing tall before me, crossing his arms and smirking. "Mind giving me some of the attention you're devoting to your phone?"

I giggled and shoved his leg with mine. "I promise all of this attention was yours a few minutes ago."

He raised a chestnut eyebrow and flexed his arms. "Ah, you like my manly man muscles, do you?"

"Oh yes. They give you the manly manliness that you've always been missing."

"Oh really?" He laughed and grabbed my phone and my bag. "Come on, get up, princess. We're going for sushi."

"I thought we were having Chinese today!" I frowned as I caught up to him and grabbed my bag and wrestled him for my phone.

"Same difference."

"Oh my god, do you ever pay attention in World History?"

He grinned and wrapped his arm around my back, pulling me closer to him. "Nah, I'm way too distracted by this pretty girl in the front row that I'm pretty sure dresses with the goal to make me drool and think very un-world history thoughts in mind."

"Is that so?" I laughed. "Well, then mission accomplished."


	2. 2: Sora

**Authors note:** Hello! Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you guys like the story so far but I thought I'd better clear something up before I go further.

This story **is set in Odaiba, Japan.** I know it might not seem that way, but as the fic goes on I will try my best to capture what Odaiba must really be like.

I use the character's original Japanese names. Taichi and Yamato may be referred to as Tai and Matt here and there but those are treated merely as nicknames and not to be confused as their actual full names.

This story is rated T as there is swearing and mild sexual content and I do not expect the rating to change at this point.

Thanks for reading!

* * *

 **Two: Sora.**

In my life, things always seemed to escalate very quickly and without warning.

For example, I only tagged along when my friends tried out for the tennis team. What's the harm? I thought. I'd always liked tennis, even though I never really thought about playing it seriously. I wasn't expecting anything out of it - In fact, I forgot about it the next day. I wasn't reminded of the whole ordeal until I had to comfort my friends for their rejection and slowly tell them about the acceptance letter that came in the mail for me. Before I even knew what was happening, I was the team leader and we were in favor to win nationals this year.

Then, there was my parent's divorce. One day they were renewing their vows on a cruise for their nineteenth anniversary and before I knew it, the next they were throwing plates at each other in the kitchen and ruing the day they met one another. It went on like that for a while. My father would spend the night on the couch, come home from work, have yet another explosive fight with my mother, break things and end up on the couch again. It went on and on again until they sat me down one evening and told me that it just couldn't work out anymore - that they tried, but it couldn't. I was confused. Not because they were divorcing, I knew that was inevitable. I was confused because they genuinely seemed to think that they had tried to make it work. Did throwing expensive china at each other all night constitute as an attempt to fix a damaged relationship nowadays?

And of course, how could I not mention my own relationship? I have never seen a relationship move as fast as mine has. It started off as simple, playful flirtation  
 _You look nice today, I like your hair._  
 _Have you been working out? Look at those biceps._  
 _I didn't expect you to be here, but I'm really glad that you are._  
Until it turned into him asking me to show up at his concert, give him a little support. After the concert, he would tell me that the entire time he was singing, the only face he saw in the crowd was mine. It was true, he wasn't lying or trying to smooth talk. Our eyes were indeed locked for a majority of the show. He dedicated my favorite song of his to a friend in the crowd and winked at me. A part of me lit up. Finally. I'd always had a crush on him, a tiny one hidden behind years of denial, years of being the friend he'd come to whenever he had trouble with his previous girlfriends. Finally, the hopes I had always obscurely had for us would be realized.  
However, in the back of my head, a little whisper of a thought could not be ignored. A warning from my subconsciousness that this was a bad idea. A warning that would always be present, no matter what. When we were snuggled up in his bed, me in his arms, his hands through my red hair, telling me how much he loved the almond color of my eyes. When he drove me home after our third date, a song that would soon become ours softly playing on the radio, my heart beating along to the tune, his hands in mine while he asked me if we could make it official. The way his lips would contagiously spread into a smile when I kissed him and he would whisper _I love you, I'd always loved you_ into my mouth. It was present throughout it all. The whisper was there. _This will go bad, and it will happen very soon._  
I was right, in a sense. The honeymoon days ended very soon. Some days were good. He would smile and I would still kiss the dimple in his chin. On other days, the stolen kisses would turn into snide remarks. His hand on the small of my back while we walked down the corridor would turn into him punching any guy that would try to buy me a drink and yelling _she's mine._ His playful jealousy would turn into _If you wear that, I'm not going out with you tonight._  
At first I thought it was adorable. He loved me so much he didn't want anyone else to even glance in my direction. He wanted only _his_ eyes to search my body. Then it became possessive. I belonged to him. It wasn't cute anymore. I was offended. I felt like every time I even talked to another guy about the most innocent of subjects, I was betraying him in some way.

And yet, I never left. I never left because I knew that after a bad day, a beautiful one would come. After a fight, I would be awoken at 4am by rocks being thrown at my window and a stereo over his shoulder with our song blaring as loud as it could go. A grin on his face as he yelled an apology, not caring about the fact that he woke my entire neighborhood and almost all of my neighbors were yelling profanities out their windows. I could be so mad at him, I could call him an asshole, a loser, a liar and slap him and tell him to never speak to me again and half an hour later he would be next to me, begging for my forgiveness, telling me that it was his fault even if it was mine, telling me that he could lose anything in the world and he'd be okay as long as he had me.

I stayed because I loved him, because I didn't really even want anyone to glance at me, I didn't want anyone to think I looked good, I didn't want to innocently flirt at bars, I didn't want anyone else. I wanted _his_ eyes on me. I wanted _his_ mouth exploring _my_ body. I wanted _his_ hands in my hair.

I wanted _**him**_ _and_ only **him.**

* * *

As I pulled out of the school parking lot, I had one thing on my mind.

It was my turn to apologize. Finally, it was on me this time. Every single time we would mess up, it would always be him showing up with the flowers. This time, there were no rocks hitting my window at 4am. There was radio silence. He hadn't even showed up at school. I knew that if I wanted to save us, I had to swallow my pride and show up.

So I drove the familiar path to his house, trying to figure out what in the world I would say once I was there. He lived with his father, a well known news anchor, in the biggest house in the neighborhood. He was wealthy, everyone knew that. Partly because of his father's big paycheck and partly because of his band's own success. He was the front-man of The Wolves. They started off as just an after school past time and now they were in the process of writing their first album. He was very proud of it, but he never allowed himself to get caught up in the moment. He'd told me once, while he was drunk and trying to apologize for a wrong he had done me, that he'd always had issues with accepting good things that came to him and he always cited his mother leaving as the reason why. As a result, he was cautious with being too optimistic about his band's future.

I pulled into his driveway and stopped my car. I leaned back in my leather seat and sighed as I looked upwards at his house. Three stories, five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a spacious kitchen, decorated intricately by a big name in interior design and taken care of by various forms of help from gardeners to cooks - all for two men, a father who is barley ever home and a son who doesn't like to be home. Matt practically lived more than part time with his best friend, Tai. He even had a pull up couch installed in Tai's room after he got tired of being kicked in his sleep by a star soccer player. He'd never admit it, but he didn't like being alone. He didn't like coming home to an empty house, he hated only having the help to fraternize with, only having him and his thoughts in the dead of the night as company. His father was constantly away on business, I'd be surprised if he even knew that his son was in a band. Hell, I'd be surprised if he came home one night and even noticed that his son was no where to be found.

I quickly pulled myself out of my car before I could realize what I was doing and back out. After I locked the doors, I stuffed my keys deep into my pockets and headed for the front door. It was unlocked, as I had expected. He always kept it unlocked in case his father showed up. He didn't want to have to open the door for him.

I headed inside and tried to be careful walking as I didn't want my shoes's click-clacks on the ceramic to alert him of my presence. Quietly, I made my way upstairs.

Third floor, three doors down. I knew his room by heart. After all, I spent alot of my time in there. In fact, most of the time that he even spent here I was with him. I gulped and knocked. Here we are, no turning back. I had to do what I had to do.

It wasn't long before he opened the door and I had to catch my breath. His almost white blonde hair was a mess, pointing in all directions and tangled up as if he had glued his hair strands together. His bright blue eyes were framed with black bags and red, irritated skin. Not only under his eyes, even. The red blotches were all over his face, under his freckles, on his chin, evidence of last night's many, many drinks. He was shirtless, only wearing a necklace with his band's insignia that he never took off. He wore nothing else but black sweatpants that held on for dear life underneath his defined hip bones.

"Well, this is a surprise." He said, leaning on his door frame and looking at me from head to toe. I wasn't dressed special, per se. I was wearing my favorite boyfriend jeans, a baby blue basic tee, my black leather jacket and high tops. Suddenly I was very aware of his eyes and where they were. Focus, Sora. For heaven's sake. You have one job you came here to do.

"A pleasant one?" I asked, leaning my head and biting my lip.

"I just wasn't expecting you." He smiled, flashing his chin dimple that was actually covered in red blotches. "But then again, I never am."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I crossed my arms and knit my eyebrows in an attempt to change the subject and try to avoid having to apologize.

"Nothing. Anyway, I assume you came here to say something?" He tapped the door frame and was obviously not going to invite me inside until I said what he wanted to hear.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Fine. Matt," Wrapping my arms around myself, I looked up into his eyes and tried to emulate the sincerity that I genuinely felt. "I never should have freaked out like I did. I know you, I know your heart. I know you love me, I know you would never mean to hurt me. Especially not with her, that purple haired short bitch."

He let out a laugh, throwing his head back and returning my gaze. "Go on."

"Well, I couldn't sleep all night. I couldn't focus at school all day because I was too busy worrying that you were pissed at me and wondering why you skipped out on school. I'm here to say, to tell you, to let you know, that I am absolutely, genuinely, very so-"

He cut me off by grabbing my hips and pulling me towards him, smashing his lips against mine before the god damn word could come out of my mouth. He ran his hands up my back slowly as he kissed me before settling one in my hair and the other on my neck, pulling my head in closer. We kissed and for a moment, any animosity I had felt seemed to evaporate inside of me. So simple, just like that.

He pulled away and rested his forehead to mine, his nose on the tip of my own, his blue eyes looking into my brown ones. "I never want you to apologize to me. You could do the worst things to me, you could call me the worst names and tell me that you hated me, and I would never believe you. Because I know the truth. I know you love me. I never need reassurance. Do you hear me?" He whispered, caressing my hair and pecking me on the lips.

I nodded. It was always like this. It was like he had a switch that he could turn on and off as he pleased. Flip it on and I hate him, he's the worst thing that ever happened to me, the worst person in my life and I regret ever knowing him. I'd curse him all night, I'd call him just to tell him I wanted him to stay away from me. Then, in just one moment, he would reverse it all and flip the switch off. It would all disappear, in a second. I would be so astonished how I could go from such a high level of resentment to absolutely in love with him as I had been before anything had happened. It was as if I was stuck in some sick magic trick with him as the magician and me as the subject, a trick that he never got tired of playing.

"Alright then," He smiled. "Come on, come inside. It's time for make up sex."

"And if I say no?" I giggled, pulling away and pretending to leave his room.

He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I screamed and laughed at the same time, kicking my feet and crying at him to let me down. "Don't worry, you'll change your mind in a second. I promise." He said, before closing the door behind him and heading over to the bed.

 _I didn't expect you to be here, but I'm really glad that you are._


	3. 3: Hikari

The smell of hazelnut coffee and freshly baked blueberry muffins.  
The sound of the sun birds as I watered the flowerbeds outside my window.  
The sun shining onto the wooden floorboards in the front hallway, heating them up.

All of those things, for sixteen years, have come together to form my mornings. All of those things, for sixteen years, have come together to form an everlasting world of nostalgia around me.

I made my way over to my bedroom after finishing up in the bathroom, tiptoeing quickly over the warm floorboards in a hurry to get ready. I wasn't late, of course. Every morning, without fail for as long as I could remember, I would wake up at five thirty, not a minute later. By six, I am showered and my teeth are brushed. By seven, breakfast is on the table and I have managed to drag Tai out of his bed and into the kitchen. By eight, we have arrived at school, ready to face the day.

I do not like to be unprepared.  
I have always hated surprises. I hate the unknown. The way I see it, routine is what gives life purpose. If I wake up on any day of the week and I do not know what my day looks like and how exactly I plan on going about it, I panic. I panic, I pace back and fourth, I call everyone I know and find out if they have plans and whether or not they can squeeze me in. I do not like to sit empty handed, to not have purpose. It makes me feel as if I am wasting all of the precious time the world has given me, as if I am throwing away seconds, minutes, hours that could be otherwise filled with usefulness.

"Tai! Come on, it's almost 20 minutes to seven, you're going to miss breakfast!" I yell as I head towards my dresser mirror. Opening the front drawer, I search my set of brushes for the one I need. I brush my chestnut hair back into a tight ponytail and wrap the finished product with a green ribbon to match the same colored cardigan I'm wearing today. When I'm sure there aren't any stray hairs popping out, I turn and take a look at myself in the full mirror hanging on my south wall.

Green cardigan, white button up shirt, dark blue skinny jeans tucked into my brown heeled boots that reached a little below my knees. I stood there, infront of the mirror for a while, searching for anything that could be altered in the little time I had left.  
I frowned. These jeans made my hips look a little larger than usual. The boots contrasted with my cardigan. The cardigan said spring, the boots said fall. The button up shirt made me look stuffy, as if I had eaten way too much the night before and I was sure I hadn't.

I looked over to my closet. An hour prior, I had tried on four different outfits and managed to criticize myself out of each and every one of them. The yellow dress with the jacket. The blue blazer with the leggings. The black sleeves with the pink skirt.  
Everything made me look wider, shorter, stuffier, curvier. All of my pants made my hips look big, dimply. My shirts made me look like a square. My jackets were either too long or too wide. Nothing worked. Nothing.

I covered my face with my hands and breathed, slowly. I needed to calm down. I needed to give myself a break. It's been a year. I've lost so much weight, I've done good. My body is in great shape, I reminded myself. I no longer needed to motivate myself by picking imaginary flaws apart. I do not need to do this to myself anymore.  
I slowly slid my hands off of my face and looked again into the mirror to make sure I hadn't smudged my eye makeup. Turning my attention to the clock above my bed, I realized that I was five minutes late from my normal schedule. With my heart racing, I marched over to Tai's room and banged on the door. When my knocking was not dignified with an answer, I slammed the door open and let myself in.

"Tai! For god's sake, it's almost time to go! You're going to be complaining all day that you're hungry!"  
I paused. The room was empty. His bed was a mess, of course, he never made it. I rolled my eyes and decided that I had a few minutes to tidy up his room before I left. I had no idea where he was. I guessed he must have spent the night at Matt's, though. I was home early the previous night since I'm grounded and the last time I saw him we were at school.

I straightened out his comforter and arranged his pillows while holding my breath. His room always had a funny smell that was a combination of sweaty soccer socks and a sweaty sleep smell. Always the classy one, my brother.

I double checked to make sure he wasn't actually in his bathroom. When I was sure there was no sign of life in his room, I exited and closed the door behind me before making my way to the kitchen.

Everyone was gone, I was home alone. Breakfast for one this morning. I opened the fridge and surveyed its contents. Muffins, eggs, scones, mangoes and apples stood out to me as breakfast foods  
I bit my lip. Well, I had oatmeal for dinner last night. I still felt full from the carbohydrates and fiber, so muffins and scones were out. I didn't feel like eggs and protein tended to make me a little bloated. Deciding that I had no other choice, I reached for an apple to go and decided to walk to school a little earlier than usual.

* * *

It was chilly today, I was glad I had stuck with the cardigan. The trees were just beginning to shed their leaves so I felt a little more confident in my boots. It was my favorite time of year. In the early beginnings of autumn, the leaves slowly fell off of the tree branches around me, promising that the trees would soon be bare and that as a result, I would soon be tasked with clearing our driveway every evening.

I began my trek to school with my headphones plugged in and music blaring loud. It was quiet, as always. The town we lived in wasn't one that could be described as bustling with activity.  
Halfway there, I heard a car abusing it's beeper behind me through the music. Frustrated, I turned around.

"Hey! Do you need something?" I yelled, before recognizing the car and realizing who the driver was.

"I'm sorry, I just thought it would be pretty un-good boyfriend of me to see my girlfriend walking to school alone and just speed past her." He smirked. Always the sarcastic.

Takeru Takaishi, my boyfriend of four months, so far. Blonde, basketball tall, blue eyes, average built and a personality of which I could only describe as the nicest most laid back I have ever encountered. We have been best friends since we were a bunch of toddlers thanks to our brothers long time inseparable friendship. Four months ago, he asked me if I was interested in going to the junior prom with him. I said yes, but I thought he was asking me as a friend. It wasn't until we were dancing together to _Thinking out Loud_ by Ed Sheeran and he told me that that was the song he always thought of when he saw me that I realized his real motives. According to him, the reason he had stayed single despite interest from many, many girls in our school was because he was waiting for me to feel the way he did. He told me that he would have silently waited forever if he had to but after encouragement from his more outspoken brother, he decided to try his luck that night. I was shocked, to say the least. I had never even thought of the idea of Takeru and I as a couple. All of those quips from our friends comparing us to an old married couple were just jokes in my eyes. I asked him to give me a few days, to let me think. He agreed, of course. He said he wouldn't bother me again until I spoke to him myself. If I told him I only wanted to be friends, he promised he'd drop it, but the way he said that was as if he had to drag it out of his chest.

So I took a few days. I didn't want to hurt him. Of course I didn't, he was my best friend. He really actually did mean the world to me. He's always been the person I could turn to. Did I only see him as a friend? I pondered all night, all day, until I tentatively reached a conclusion. _Why would I_ only see him as a friend? He's jaw dropping handsome, smart, gentle, proper and he knew me. I always saw my knight in shining armor as someone that would love me delicately, someone who understood me, someone who would love me exactly the way Takeru would if I gave him the chance.

I called him and I told him I would love it if we could try going out on a date together. He was ecstatic. The night we went out, I laughed harder than all of the moments we had laughed together combined. We got slurpies and went to the Theater backlot where we danced to the faint music emitting from the inside since we couldn't actually afford tickets. He took me to a place we had discovered when we were thirteen, a hilltop from which you could see the entire town. Everyone looked like ants, he said. Tiny and unimportant. A big difference from what they looked like in their actuality - arrogant and big headed. He drove me home, blaring a playlist of our favorite songs we had put together loud as both of us half laughed and half sung at the top of our lungs. When we arrived to my driveway, sweaty and out of breath, I told him that he was right. This was natural, organic. _We_ worked in a way I didn't think we would. I said that I was glad that he had opened my eyes to the possibilities that existed between us. Then, I leaned across my seat and kissed him, simple and easy, as we had always been together.

I raised my brow and pulled my headphones out of my ears. "You killed my song, you know." I said, before hopping into his car.

"Tell me what it was and I'll make it up for you."

"Somewhere only we know" I said, flashing him a smile.

"You and that song." He shook his head, pulling out our playlist on his music player.

"Us and that song, actually." I laughed.

* * *

We walked into the school building hand in hand, my shoulder brushing his arm. He was so much taller than me some people thought he was actually a few years older than me rather than a month younger.

"So, still grounded? Like, there's no hope your mom would let you out tonight at all?" He asked.

I gave him an apologetic smile as we reached my locker. "Come on, 'Keru. You know my mom. If I'm going out tonight it's over her dead body. Give it a few days."

He sighed and kissed my check. "Alright. I'll see you fourth period. I have chemistry."

"Okay. Do well!" I laughed, pushing him forward.

He shook his head at me with a smile from halfway across the hall before turning to make his way to his class.

I eye'd the hall, looking for my friends. After waving at a few acquaintances, I spotted Mimi by her locker, in deep conversation with my brother. I pursed my lips. Well, there he is.

I marched over to them, holding my books to my chest. "Well, look what the cat dragged in."

Mimi's eyes widened. "Hikari! You startled me!"

"Sorry, but Tai didn't come home last night! Where were you? You should be glad mom didn't notice, I wouldn't have even bothered coming up with decent cover for you!"

Mimi turned her gaze to Tai for a moment before turning back towards me. He stood there, dumbfounded, leaning against Mimi's locker with his hands in his pocket. I sighed over his appearance. I genuinely worried how Tai would take care of himself if an apocalypse were to happen and he was the only one left. His shirt was misbuttoned, his jeans were hanging low, his shoes weren't tied, his hair wasn't brushed. He looked like he just ran out of a hurricane and yet, somehow, it worked. Alot of my friends have always been infatuated with my brother, loving his messed up I _**literally**_ just rolled out of bed look. I love my brother more than most siblings loved each other but I've always detested the look. Maybe it's why I ended up with Takeru. His hair was always brushed, his shirt was always newly washed, his jeans were always the right size and hanging exactly where they should be. Maybe that was because he grew up just his mom and no other male influence in the house, his parents were divorced and his brother, Matt, lived with his father. My brother, however, took greatly after our own dad, who's office was more like a supplies factory after a riot had run through it.

"He just told me he spent the night at Matt's." Mimi said quickly before smiling her perfect red lipgloss smile and brushing her hair out of her face. She was so gorgeous. Like, a kind of gorgeous you only saw on the cover of magazines. The kind of gorgeous that made you stay up all night cursing the fact that you couldn't ever look like her. Seeing as how she had been religiously doing pilaties for over a year, she had the typical body associated with the fitness sport. Skinny with hints of curves in all of the right places, especially in the chest area. I had always, always envied her petite form and the way she just had this natural sense for fashion. Today, she was wearing a white wife beater along with a rose and light blue kimono style jacket intricately designed with little petals and trees. On the bottom, she had black leggings and rose ballerina flats. Overall, she looked flawless. Of course she did, she was Mimi Tachikawa. She could make a clown's costume look couture.

I tore my eyes away from analyzing her outfit, not wanting my envy to be emulated in my expression. "Oh? You could have called!"

Tai gave me a lopsided smile and nuzzled my hair. I hated it when he did that, he completely messed up the hairstyle that I had spent all morning making sure looked presentable. "Sorry, kid. I was asleep before I knew it. Won't happen again, I promise." He then said his goodbyes and headed to his first class.

I turned to Mimi and linked my arm in hers. "Come on, AP English waits for no one."


	4. 4: Taichi

**Author's note:** After careful consideration, I have decided to set the story in America rather than Japan. I had been going in one direction but I've come to the decision to shift gears. I can't possibly do Odaiba justice, I've never been there and I know very little about the customs and traditions. So, in an attempt to do a through job when it comes to setting and such, This story is set in **Virginia, The United States.**

 **Thank you so much for the reviews and follows! After you read, make sure to review. I love feedback and hearing what you guys think. Thank you if you do! The chapter's are short, I realize. I'm just trying to establish the character of every protagonist before the events really start rolling in. This chapter is Tai's POV, he's my favorite character so I hope I do him justice.**

* * *

 **Two: Taichi.**

The sky was awfully blue today.

Like a kind of flourescent blue, the kind that said _today's going to be a good day._ The kind of sky that encouraged you to take advantage of every minute of it before it faded into pitch black. Not a cloud in sight, not one warning of a raindrop, not one chilly breeze. Just a clear blue background to a lit up sun and a spring breeze intruding on an autumn day.

Suddenly, my view was clouded by a large, incoming ball that hit me flat in the face.

"God damn it, guys! Can't you see I'm trying to relax over here?" I yelled, rubbing my nose, sitting up and throwing the ball at whoever dared kicked it over to me.

"Come on, Yagami! We've been doing laps for almost an hour! You're abusing us!" Daisuke Motomiya yelled, throwing his hands in the air.

I smirked. Coach was absent today, which meant that it was my job to make sure the team trained till their toes bled. I had them doing laps around the field and burpees every 5 minutes. Meanwhile, I laid centerfield on my back, looking up at the sky, occasionally yelling at every member to shape up or ship the fuck out and forget about ever playing soccer ever again.

"You better believe I'm abusing you. Thank god I haven't considered making you do pushups yet. I know you pussies hate those. Now go! One more mile, and you better not slack on any burpees! I'm watching you."

Daisuke huffed. He was the youngest member on the senior class team, I recommended his recruitment myself. He was good, that was for sure. Almost as good as me, but let's not get carried away. Nevertheless, that didn't mean I was about to invite him over to lay down next to me and pat him on the back.

"Do you need me to come adjust your attitude, Motomiya?" I warned, sending him a threatening glance. I wasn't angry, of course. I just liked to see him whimper. Made me feel pretty in control.

He quickly shook his head and got back in line to finish the set. Satisfied, I laid back down and closed my eyes, deciding to allow myself a little bit of a day dream.

Milky, silk to the touch skin was the first thing my brain decided to project for me, as always. Strawberry blonde straight hair between my fingers. Soft, moisturized, cherry tasting lips against mine. My mouth curled into a smile, the memory of last night - and this morning - playing on repeat. What a fine thing to day dream about this wonderful afternoon.

About ten minutes later, I decided to be generous and end their suffering. They _had_ recently won a big game and I wasn't actually trying to punish them. I shot up and jumped into a standing stance.

"Alright, guys. That's enough for now."

They sighed a chorus of relief and wiped their sweat away, gasping for breath.

"Damn, guys. You'd think you all had some resistance in you. A few laps does this to a bunch of well trained athletes? I'm disappointed."

They looked at me like I was crazy or on drugs. I laughed, clapping my hands together. I loved being part time coach.

"Come on, you all stink. Go to the showers before I decide that you all need a little ab work - which you do, actually."

They all ran to the back building before I could finish my sentence. I headed towards the front bleachers to grab my bag and hung it over my shoulder. Then, I looked up to the top seat. There she was, her hair draped over her face. She seemed to be focused on her homework or something. I dug my hands into my pockets and climbed up to her.

"Hey there, stranger." I said, standing in front of her.

She looked up with her expression brightening, her perfect lips extending into a smile, her gorgeous green eyes widening. "Finally. You decided to have mercy and let them go? A little too soon, don't you think?"

I chuckled and extended my hand to help her get up. She put her things into her bag and held on to me. We climbed down and headed for the parking lot.

"So, what are you in the mood for today?" I asked, bumping my shoulder into hers.

"You're making me fat, you know. I can't afford to eat out every day!"

"You? Fat? Are you kidding me?"

"I'm human, after all."

I seriously doubted that. Once, in some class I can't remember, the teacher was talking about the greek gods. According to him, Aphrodite allegedly had no one form. She took the appearance of what you found most beautiful and attractive, which was why she was known to be beautiful to everyone's taste, no matter what. I never told Mimi, but when the teacher said that, I instantly had the image of her in my head, without a thought, and we weren't even together back then. She was petite as if I could scoop her up in my hand and she'd fit perfectly. Her hair was god given. It never frizzed, never looked flat. Her makeup was always never too much, never too little. Hell, forget makeup. After seeing her without it, I didn't even understand why she used it. To me, she wasn't human. She was Aphrodite and I was her humble subject, a guy she took pity on and decided to grace with her presence.

"Right, of course you are." I said, opening my car door for her to slip into the passenger seat. I tried to be a gentleman around her, even though she knew very well that it wasn't like me to act that way.  
I've dated alot of girls, I'll admit to that. Since the ninth grade, I've had alot of girlfriends for short periods of time. I'd hang out with them for a while until they got too annoying, too boring, too clingy. Then, I'd make up some story of why I had to take a step back and be alone for a while. The next day I'd have my eyes set on someone new. It wasn't like that with her. I was never rude. I never let my jokes or quips go too far, I knew she was sensitive and I tried to treat her in the way a guy that actually deserved to be around her would. I opened doors for her, I ordered for her at restaurants, I held her books for her, I helped her out of seats and into them. I've gone so far that she once jokingly called me sexist after I had refused to let her go out after nine alone. I really wasn't trying to be. I knew she was more than capable, she could take on anyone who got in her way. She was a world of feisty, it was one of the things that made me so tormentingly attracted to her. It was just that I didn't want her to have to get her hands dirty, ever. I wanted her to call me if she needed me, ever, even if it was for the stupidest thing. I wanted her to know that I could take care of her, that I wanted to. And, most of all, I wanted her to see me as a guy that she could be with, someone she could count on without a doubt in mind.

I got into the driver's seat and turned my car on when I suddenly got an idea. "Well, how about you come over to my house for dinner? Mom's making some salad thing or something, I think. I haven't had dinner at home in a while, she'll be real happy to see me before the sun went down."

She gave me a questionable look. "Won't that be weird? I mean...won't Hikari suspect something? About us?"

I focused my eyes on the road, not wanting to give away my true feelings about the subject she had just brought up. The truth was, I wanted my sister to notice. I wanted to go public. I knew that it was risky. We had just gotten together a while ago and neither of us even really knew where we stood yet. But the honest thing was that since she and I had become whatever we were, I had lost all interest for any other girl on the planet. She was enough and more than just enough. I wanted the whole world to know that she and I were together, I wanted to ask her to be my girlfriend, for heaven's sake. I didn't care if it was too soon. I wanted her to know what I really felt. I just didn't know when to tell her.

"Nah, she won't. It's not like it would be the first time I invited you over. Besides, you could say that you decided to surprise Hikari and come hang out because she's grounded."

She nodded looked down at her nails. "I mean sure, if you're sure everything is okay."

I grinned, excited that she agreed to come over. Maybe I could sneak her into my room without my mom or anyone noticing. I stepped on it and headed towards my house.

* * *

"Mooooooooooooom I'm hooooooome!" I yelled, walking into my house and holding the door open for Mimi.

She smiled as she looked around the doorway. She'd been here before, of course. When we were younger, Sora, Mimi, Matt and I would spend all summer day hanging out at the community pool or running around in the fields and then we would come over to my house mid-day for lemonade and cookies. We'd always been like that, the four of us. A group of best friends. It made me really happy to think of how we'd successfully kept that bond as we grew older. None of us had drifted apart, each one of us was close to to other just as we had been when we were a bunch of six year olds.

"Remember that time we came to your house and our shoes were all muddy and we were so scared your mom was going to kill us we spent all afternoon trying to clean up after ourselves but messing everything up even more in the process?"

I threw my head back and laughed as I pulled off my shoes. "We did a shit job anyway and she yelled at us for hours when she came home."

We chuckled and exchanged stories as we headed towards the kitchen. My mother was at the counter peeling onions when we walked in. She looked up and smiled.

"Mimi! What a pleasant surprise! Where have you been?" She walked over to Mimi and gave her a hug and two kisses on her cheeks whilst trying not to touch her with her onion-y hands. "Has Tai finally decided to be a gentleman and invite you over?"

Mimi giggled and brought her hair over to one side. "Yeah, he's been a little short on gentleman-ness lately." She winked, I winked back as I bit into an apple.

We sat at the kitchen table as my mother prepared lunch, talking about school and reminiscing about when we were little and she would cook lunch for Sora, Matt, Mimi and I every single day and our many sleepovers at my house when Hikari suddenly walked in.

She blinked at Mimi, confused to see her over. "Meems? What are you doing here?"

Mimi was a little startled but soon remembered the cover we had agreed upon. "I'm here to see you! I thought I'd come over and hang out." She gave her yet another perfect smile, selling the story.

Hikari squealed and ran over to embrace her friend. "Aww! You're the sweetest."

My mother, meanwhile, noticeably had quite a shift in mood when Hikari walked in. She was definitely still mad at her because of what had happened. She told me that she found Takeru and Hikari moments away from doing the deed. When I asked Hikari, she said it was nothing like that and they were just kissing. Of course, I wanted to rip Takeru into two halves and send one to his brother as a parting gift and the other to hell at the mention of him even messing around with my little sister but I tried to be understanding and fix the situation between her and my mom but when I tried to explain to my mom that they were just kids and it wasn't that bad or anything she went off on a rant of how Hikari had changed since she started going out with Takeru and that she was too young for all of the things she was doing. I tried to make her unground Hikari but she told me to stay out of it. When I tried to get Hikari to apologize, she also told me to stay out of it. So there I was, staying out of it. They could kill each other for all I cared. I tried.

"Hikari, cut up some apples for the pie." My mom ordered, pointing towards the bowl on the counter without turning. Hikari shot a look at Mimi and rolled her eyes. Mimi gave her a sympathetic smile and announced that she'd help her.

I put my feet up on the table and leaned back before pulling out my phone and checking my texts. I always seemed to forget about the rest of the world when I was with Mimi. I hadn't checked my phone since before last night.

Seven new messages. Fourteen missed calls.

 _ **Friday, 17/9/2014**_  
 _ **Blondie (Matt) -**_ _Where the hell are you?_  
 _ **Takeru -**_ _Can you tell Matt I'll call him late? His phone's off._  
 _ **Blondie (Matt) -**_ _Any idea where my brother is? I've been looking for him for hours and I can't find him._  
 _ **Blondie (Matt) -**_ _God damn it, Tai. Since when are you too preoccupied to answer your fucking phone? The last I checked your life was as empty as your brain is._  
 _ **Blondie (Matt) -**_ _Never mind. I found him. Thanks for the help, assface._  
 _ **Temper (Sora) -**_ _Answer your phooooooone I wanna go see that Maze Runners movie but Mimi won't go with me_  
 _ **Daisuke -**_ _Any idea when practice is on Saturday? I have a hair appointment that I can't miss_

"Hey, Hika, where was Takeru last night? Matt was running around town trying to find him."

Mom's stance tensed at the mention of Takeru's name. I didn't get her sudden animosity towards him. He used to be her favorite of Hikari's friends.

Hikari's brows knitted as she looked at me with a confused expression. "No? He said he was home."

I shrugged. "That's weird. You'd think Matt would think to check his brother's own house before declaring him a missing person."

She shrugged back and returned her attention to cutting up apples but I could sense her mind gears working.

"The apples are ready, !" Mimi exclaimed, holding the bowl up. She was so cute. It was irresistible, I wanted to take her to my room right at that moment and show her just how cute I thought she was.

They set to making a pie, occasionally turning towards me to tell me how useless I was as a guy. Hey, it's not my fault my mom always taught me that as a male all I had to do was sit around and try not to make a mess of things.

A few hours later, after dinner, we sat at the table talking, laughing and gossiping about our neighbors. I looked around myself in the midst of it all. My mom, my sister and the girl I was crazy about all at one table. I felt a weird sense of happiness on a level I'd never felt before. Then and there, I decided I wanted to do this more often.

The door rang and I got up to go see who it was. My dad was late from work so I expected it would be him. I opened the door and was a little surprised by who I found standing outside instead.

Looking like death and all of his friends, Takeru stood outside, panting, his blue eyes black and bloodshot. "Hey Tai. I'm sorry to intrude, but can you please tell Hikari I need to talk to her right now? It's urgent."

* * *

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